Not Quite the Mind Reader
by thethirdromana
Summary: The TARDIS crash lands on a mysterious planet just as the Doctor and Sarah were finally going to admit something. Can the Doctor fix the TARDIS before something dangerous happens, and can Sarah finally tell the Doctor what's she's dreamed of? Rated M for later chapters. I don't own the characters, obviously. I'm just a fan.
1. Prologue - The Dream

Sarah walked into the console room to find the Doctor in his usual place at the controls. He hadn't noticed her presence. She took this opportunity to admire him a little. He wasn't a conventional beauty was the Doctor, what with his unruly curls and wide, manic eyes that even gave her the creeps sometimes. But that wasn't to say he was unattractive. Definitely not. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was just something about him she liked. And he was hers. Her Doctor. Well, in her head he was anyway; she never quite got the courage to make a move on him yet. But that was about to change.

_Just play it cool Sarah, be subtle_

This was the day she would finally get her hands on him. She'd even dressed for the occasion. Instead of the usual pair of trousers, she opted for a skirt she found in the TARDIS wardrobe. It was quite cute and, more importantly, very short.

_Easy access_

She had to laugh at herself for thinking that. Her quiet giggle caught the Doctor's attention

"Ah Sarah there you are. I was wondering when you were going to appear."

He turned on the spot and looked her up and down briefly.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, it's nothing…"_ He glanced down. It was just for a moment but he definitely noticed. Oh but maybe he only noticed because I normally wear trousers? Maybe this is all just stupid. No, no Sarah you've got to do this._

She moved up next to him at the console, removing the space between them.

"So where are we heading then? Or have you not figured it out yet?" She asked innocently.

"Figured it out? I can control the TARDIS, Sarah… most of the time" He moved away from her as he paused to do his usual dance around the controls as she followed him, mocking lightly.

"Mostly, you have no idea where we are going!"

"A slight problem yes, but it's more fun that way, don't you think?"

She could tell from the way he talked that wasn't a question to be answered, so she just continued to follow him around the console room, until he stopped abruptly. It was that moment that she bumped right into him as he swiftly turned to face her. It was obvious he was about to tell her something, probably some technobabble she didn't really understand. But the words were lost when he looked down at her to find her face so close to his, staring up at him with her big brown eyes. They were lost in each other's gaze for what seemed like forever.

_It's now or never Smith_

She grabbed his scarf tightly and dragged his body towards her and kissed him hard. He seemed taken aback first. "Sarah…uh…what are uh…"

"Doctor, for once, shut up"

She kissed him again, and this time, he kissed her back. She ran her hands through his soft curls and his hands found their way to her waist and he pulled her body close to his. Then his hands trailed lower as he picked her up off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he carried her over to the console. He placed her on top of the controls, standing between her legs, leaning over her. He began to kiss down her neck as his hands ran up her thighs slowly, causing her skirt to rise.


	2. Chapter 1

Sarah awoke in a state of confused bliss, only to be bitterly disappointed when she realised it was just a dream. With an audible sigh, she dragged herself out of bed to get dressed and head to the console room. Whilst looking for something to wear she saw the mini skirt from her dream. For a second she considered putting it on, but soon abandoned the thought. When she walked into the console room, she found the Doctor at his usual place.

"Ah Sarah there you are, I was wondering when you were going to appear." He looked up briefly from the controls as he spoke.

Everything reminded her of the dream. She just couldn't get the damned thing out of her head. Except this time it seems the Doctor has no interest in her, he was too busy at the controls, doing whatever it was he does. She never asked how it worked. She walked up to stand next to him, but at that moment, he moved all the way to the other side of the console. Every time she tried to follow him he kept moving away. He didn't mean to of course, he was busy, but it annoyed Sarah.

"Doctor-"

"Just a minute, Sarah"

"But-"

"Sarah, please, I'm busy" He didn't look up from the console when he spoke. The TARDIS made a loud humming noise as he worked.

"Oh…" She always hated being ignored by him. He didn't mean anything by it, but that didn't stop her being offended. She was left with nothing to do but stand there and feel useless. Though it's not like she could actually help him, but she liked to at least be doing something. The TARDIS soon quietened down to its usual low hum

"There we are" The Doctor sighed, feeling quite pleased with himself. "Now, what were you saying?"

He placed his hand on her shoulder briefly as he walked past. She became rigid at his touch, remembering the dream; the way he touched her then. It was so different to now. Now it seemed he had little interest in her. It made her feel awkward. He was her friend. Yes, he's a man, though a childish one at that, but he's not even human!

_Can Time Lords have sex the way humans do…?_

She glanced over at the Doctor to find that he hadn't even looked up from the console to her.

"Hmph!"

She sat cross-legged on the floor. She knew it was a childish thing to do, to throw a tantrum, but she didn't care. The Doctor looked up to talk to her, but found that she wasn't there.

"Sarah? Sa- what are you doing down there?" He asked as he leaned round the console.

She didn't reply

"What's wrong?"

He walked over and stood over her, looking down with confusion and a hint of genuine concern. But him standing over her like that just reminded her more of a dream and, more importantly, of her secret desires she's kept hidden ever since she met him. She felt an overwhelming wave of embarrassment, so she looked away. This concerned him more. He sat down on the floor next to her, sighing quietly as he did so. He leaned into her and playfully pushed her.

"What's wrong, Sarah?"

She debated in her head whether to just tell him about the dream or not. After all, he'll probably just pass it off as just another human thing. But what if he didn't? What if after she told him everything became awkward between them? She couldn't risk her friendship and a trip of a lifetime with one silly dream. But it was more than that…

_I'll just talk around it. Act like it's no big deal._

"Oh just a dam I had last night. Can stop thinking about it is all."

"Bad dream?"

He tried to look her in the eye but the embarrassment was still there. He eyes drifted towards the floor.

"No…" She wanted to change the subject desperately before the conversation could get awkward, but she knew that he'd figure out something was up.

"Doctor…it's just-" She sighed and shrugged off her negative thoughts. Looking to the Doctor, she smiled and said "it was just something I didn't expect. It's nothing really"

"Are you sure?"

She playfully pushed him back. "I'm sure"

They both chuckled lightly as they remained on the floor, content with nothing more than each other's company. She leaned into him slightly, half expecting him to move away, but he didn't. And she was glad; she liked the feel of the Doctor. Not just in a sexual way, she found his presence very comforting. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed in content.

The Doctor was a mystery to her that she wanted to solve, but she knew that it would take a very long time; he wasn't one to share secrets. However, there must be some things he'd share with her, after all he did say she was his best friend. She saw now as an opportunity to find out a little about him, without moving she said, almost in a whisper, "Doctor?"

"Yes?" His voice was low and quiet. It was obvious he felt the same content she did.

"I'm not the only one you've travelled with am I?" she subconsciously leaned further into him and to her surprise he didn't move away.

"Well, no. I thought you knew that?"

"Just making sure. Have you ever travelled with a… wife or girlfriend or whatever you would call it?"

He was silent for a moment.

"No"

_Maybe I made him uncomfortable… but I can't stop now I want to know about him._

"What about family?"

He seemed to be more relaxed by this question, answering in his usual light hearted tone.

"Family, yes. I used to travel with my granddaughter, a while back."

_Granddaughter?! So does that make him an old Time Lord? What happened to her grandmother?_

Questions were racing around her head which she would never know answer to, and she accepted that. She had to pick and choose her questions carefully so as to not scare the Doctor away. It was not often that he was open about himself.

"Granddaughter huh?" She tried to act unfazed. "So she must have a grandmother right?"

It seemed she had gone a step to far because the Doctor suddenly jolted as if he had just been woken up, causing Sarah to fall off his shoulder. She instantly regretted asking. She wanted so much to go back to resting on the Doctor but he had edged further away from her. He turned to face her.

"Why are you so interested all of a sudden?" His tone was light hearted and slightly mocking but she could sense an aura of suspicion

_Maybe he's figured it out…_

"I uh was just wondering-" she was struggling to find words. But she had to think fast; she couldn't let on her true feelings. "I was just wondering if you're, you know, _involved_ with anyone?"

"Really?" he tilted his head a tad to the side and faint smile flashed upon his face

_Oh no, he's figured it out! Has he? Oh god what if he has?_

"Well the answer to that is no, I am not _involved_ with anyone." He mimicked Sarah as he spoke "I haven't been for a while."

"Oh… that's quite sad"

"Is it? You know, Time Lords and humans have very different views on that. You humans are very emotional and act irrationally because of it. We on the other hand, are well practiced in restraint."

This made her feel self-conscious. Yet another thing she wished she hadn't said. She looked away from him and quickly ran her hand through her hair, trying to shake off the feeling. When she placed her hand back down, it wasn't the floor as she expected, but her hand landed right on top of the Doctor's.

"Oh Doctor! I'm sorry" She lifted her hand off in surprise.

"Quite alright"

"No really I am"

"Oh come now Sarah it wouldn't have been the first time we've held hands!"

This made her blush. She didn't want to admit that every time he held her hand her heart jumped a little

"Like so!" He got up and grabbed her hand as he pulled her to her feet, not letting go when she stood up. Instead he entwined their figures and grinned. "Not so bad is it hm?"

She could feel her face getting redder as he continued to hold her hand. She felt a little light-headed.

_All this because one guy holds my hand? Pull yourself together Smith_

She felt as though she could faint. In fact, she believed she may faint. But that's not because of the Doctor. It was because the oxygen was lessening slowly. He hadn't noticed of course, he doesn't really need it as much as her. But it affected her almost instantly. She almost passed out, falling forward into the Doctor just in time for him to catch her.

"Sarah? What's wrong?"

There was an almighty crash. The TARDIS went black.


	3. Chapter 2

Sarah found herself lying on the console room floor. She felt dazed; she figured she must have passed out after all. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked up to see the Doctor leaning over the console, motionless. She couldn't read the expression on his face, her vision was still hazy. Attempting to sit up, she asked "what happened?"

"We've landed."

"What?" She finally pulled herself onto her feet. "How?"

"Well, more of a crash landing really." He continued to look down at the console. "All the power's been drained. That's why you lost consciousness Sarah, lack of oxygen. The Atmosphere Monitoring Subsystem malfunctioned, but with a bit of clever tinkering to the Relative Dimensional Stabilizers I got it working again." He turned towards her and smiled as he spoke, clearly proud of his own intelligence. Sarah was baffled. She had no idea what he was talking about, but then again, she never really did.

"What about everything else?"

He hesitated a moment. "Still working on it..."

Sarah walked up to him and leaned with her back against the console. She pursed her lips for a second, before saying "where are we?"

He looked up in her direction suddenly, as if being pulled out of deep thought. "I have no idea. Scanner's down."

"Well then" she shrugged, "guess we'll have to find out the old fashioned way." She smiled a cheeky smile; almost flirting with him. Almost. He had continued to stare at her while she spoke. He grinned. "You're right."

He took a few steps away from the console.

"I should probably have the TARDIS fixed in a few days perhaps. Whoever or whatever it was that brought us here obviously doesn't want to keep us long. The damage is easily repairable, be it a little tedious. But still!" He turned swiftly to face her. "Something brought the TARDIS here, Sarah, and I want to find out what it is. Come on!"

He grabbed her hand as he ran past, practically dragging her out of the TARDIS. Not that she minded much, after all, they were holding hands, and going on another adventure. He pulled her out the doors with such force she nearly fell forward. When she regained her balance she looked out to see that they were standing in a clearing of a forest. The grass was long, with a faint blue colour, and tickled her ankles. The trees stood tall and thin around them, each one battling its way through the rest towards the sky, where two suns shone bright. In front of them there was a gap in the trees. Through it, an ocean was visible.

"Oh Doctor, its beautiful here!"

"hm, yes. Come on, let's have a look around"

He let go of her hand and led the way through the long grass towards the ocean. He marched on in front, and Sarah found it difficult to keep up., or to even walk at all.

_Dammit, chose the wrong day to wear heels. This ground is so uneven!_

Just at that moment, she fell face-down on the ground.

"ow, Doctor? Doctor!"

"What happened?" He briskly walked back to her. "Are you alright?"

She struggled to her feet. "Yes. It's just I can't walk in these shoes. The ground is too uneven."

He looked her up and down quickly. Well then you've got two options. One: go barefoot."

Sarah contorted her face into an expression of disagreement. "And the other?"

"I carry you."

Sarah was shocked, and felt a little flustered at this proposal. "You what?"

"Well it's not far" He said as he turned to the gap in the trees. "There's a shore over there." He pointed towards the ocean. "Should be easier to walk there."

He turned around and knelt down. "Hop on" He said cheerfully.

She did so reluctantly. "Oh, how romantic…" she said to herself.

"Well it's better than twisting your ankle. It's not far, look." He replied as he picked her up and began walking towards the shore. He walked slowly through the trees, so as to not drop her or make her uncomfortable. They made idle chat as they made their way. When they finally reached flat ground, he set her down. From where they were they could see the shore clearly; the beach went on for miles. The Doctor reached his hand out for Sarah.

"Shall we?"

She accepted her hand and with an enthusiastic grin she said "Let's!"

They strolled along the beach hand in hand. They weren't alone on the beach though, many of the natives were out, presumably to make the most of a nice day. When they reached a quiet part of the beach, they decided to sit a while. The Doctor laid out his grey for them to sit on.

"We'll need somewhere to say" Sarah declared.

"hm yes, the TARDIS could take a few days to repair, and as lovely as this beach it, I don't suppose it's very nice to sleep on."

"I believe I can help you there" a voice said from behind them "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Similan, and I know the perfect place for you two to stay."


End file.
